‘Counter-ideology needed for tackling terrorism’

New Delhi, July 30 (IANS) A leading Muslim scholar Wednesday said a new ideology and stricter laws are needed to counter the militant face of Islam. “Violence begins from mind and every violence has an ideology. The solution is to counter it by evolving another counter-ideology,” said Maulana Wahiduddin Khan at a press conference organised by Centre for Peace and Spirituality here Wednesday.

“We need to dispel their wrong notions and tell them that killing innocent people in the name of Jihad will send them to hell and not heaven,” he said.

Maulana Wahiduddin Khan is a noted Islamic scholar and has authored more than 200 books on Islam. He established the Islamic centre in 1970 and CPS International in 2001 for bringing out the true face of Islam and to promote peace among nations.

“After 60 years of freedom, we are (still) living under the shadow of bomb. My vocabulary fails to give me appropriate words to condemn the inhuman act of bomb blasts in Bangalore and Ahmedabad,” said Maulana Wednesday.

“One needs to differentiate between Islam and Muslim. You need to judge Muslim in the light of Islam, and not vice versa,” he added.

“When Islam came into the world in 7th century, there were only two literatures, Quran (Holy book of Islam) and Hadith (teachings of Prophet). Muslims had a huge empire in the world and for nearly 1,000 years during their rule other literature was developed which was, however, influenced by political ideas,” he added.

“It was during this time that Muslims developed a psyche of supremacy, considering their Prophet as superior among all messengers of gods and their religion supreme among all others. However, this is nowhere written in Quran,” said Maulana.

“They entered modern period with this legacy but the condition today is not same and they don’t have the same empire. This has led to Muslims living in despair and frustration, trying for political supremacy. Now out of frustrations, they have started suicide bombings,” Maulana stated.

He suggested that Muslim leaders and reformers take on the baton and educate their brethren all over the world.

“Recently I met a Singapore citizen who told me that his country is ‘crime free’ and said harsh punishment was the reason behind it. We regularly read about crime incidents but seldom we read about deterrent punishment awarded to them,” he said.

“We need to review the situation and follow the pattern of Singapore,” he added.